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Loading... The Little Locksmith: A Memoir (original 1943; edition 2001)by Katharine Butler Hathaway (Author)
Work InformationThe Little Locksmith: A Memoir by Katharine Butler Hathaway (1943)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. The Little Locksmith by Katherine Butler Hathaway (written in 1942) by a woman who was treated for Spinal TB (strapped to a board for 10 years from age 5-15) but who ultimately became a writer and painter (better at the first), bought a house in Castine and ultimately in Blue Hill. Her memoir is beautifully written, psychologically astute, and fascinating. She predates feminism and Freudianism and other isms so that one gets a very authentic sense of who she is--and she can be brutally honest, especially about the role the mother played in denigrating her daughter because she was trying to protect her. And it was really sad as the child assumed the mother was speaking truth that no one would ever want to have a relationship or marry her. Not true as it turned out, but she died before she could write this part of her life. Died in 1942.I didn't read about her or read the forward or back of the book so read it cold except for the glowing recommendation of a friend up here who sent it to me. (Gete didn't like it at all. Not enough plot. I also gave copies to Bess, Carolyn, and Barbara.) ( ) no reviews | add a review
Distinctions
The Little Locksmith begins in 1895 when a specialist straps five-year-old Katharine, then suffering from spinal tuberculosis, to a board with halters and pulleys in a failed attempt to prevent her being a "hunchback." Her mother says that she should be thankful that her parents are able to have her cared for by a famous surgeon; otherwise, she would grow up to be like the "little locksmith," who does jobs at their home; he has a "strange, awful peak in his back." Forced to endure "a horizontal life of night and day," Katharine remains immobile until age fifteen, only to find that she, too, has a hunched back and is "no larger than a ten-year-old child." The Little Locksmith charts Katharine's struggle to transcend physical limitations and embrace her life, her body, and herself in the midst of debilitating bouts of frustration and shame. Her spirit and courage prevail, and she succeeds in expanding her world far beyond the boundaries prescribed by her family and society: she attends Radcliffe College, forms deep friendships, begins to write, and in 1921, purchases a house of her own in Castine, Maine. There she creates her home, room by room, fashioning it asa space for guests, lovers, and artists.The Little Locksmith stands as a testimony to Katharine's aspirations and desires--for independence, for love, and for the pursuit of her art. No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)362.43092Social sciences Social problems and services; associations Social problems of & services to groups of people People with disabilites Other Physical Disabilities Biography & History BiographyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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